Back to results
US 8,712,569 B2Granted
System for determining potential lot consolidation during manufacturing
AssigneeGlobalfoundries Singapore Pte. Ltd.
InventorsJimmy Lay Kuan Goh, Meng Yong Quek, Siow Ling Kong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system for determining a list of potential lots for consolidation is presented. The system includes a module having a database and an input for receiving an event occurrence. The database may include a set of consolidation rules. The module, upon receiving the event occurrence, retrieves the consolidation rules and initiates a consolidation analysis to determine the list of potential lots for consolidation based on the consolidation rules.
Claims25
A system comprising:
- a lot consolidation manager (LCM) module for determining a list of potential lots for consolidation, the LCM module comprises a database and an input for receiving a triggering event, wherein
- the triggering event comprises a reduction in the number of wafers in a first lot at any stage of processing, and
- the database contains a set of consolidation rules for determining a list of potential lots for consolidation, the potential lots are contained in carriers,
- wherein the LCM module, upon receiving the triggering event relating to the first lot at the input of the LCM module, retrieves the consolidation rules from the database of the LCM module, and initiates and performs a consolidation analysis to determine the list of potential lots for consolidation with the first lot based on the consolidation rules, wherein
- the consolidation analysis determines a selected consolidation step for consolidation which can be at any stage of processing,
- the first lot and the one or more lots from the list of potential lots for consolidation continue processing until reaching the selected consolidation step to form a single consolidated lot, and
- the consolidation comprises physically merging wafers of the first lot with one or more lots from the list of potential lots for consolidation into a same carrier at the selected consolidation step for subsequent processing of the wafers.
4 more elements
A method for determining a list of potential lots of wafers for consolidation, the method comprising:
- providing a host computer system having a lot consolidation manager (LCM) module comprising a database and an input for receiving a triggering event, wherein the triggering event comprises a reduction in the number of wafers in a first lot at any stage of processing;
- and
- providing a set of consolidation rules within the database of the LCM module for determining a list of potential lots of wafers for consolidation,
- wherein the LCM module, upon receiving the triggering event relating to the first lot at the input, performs the following steps comprising
- retrieving the set of consolidation rules, and
- initiating and performing a consolidation analysis to determine the potential lot list for consolidation with the first lot based on the consolidation rules, wherein
- the consolidation analysis comprises determining a selected consolidation step for consolidation which can be at any stage of processing,
- the first lot and the one or more lots from the potential lot list for consolidation
- continue processing until reaching the selected consolidation step to form a single consolidated lot, and
- the consolidation comprises merging wafers of the first lot with one or more lots from the potential lot list for consolidation into a same carrier at the selected consolidation step for subsequent processing of the wafers.
7 more elements
A method of manufacturing an integrated circuit comprising:
- providing two or more lots of wafers;
- providing a host computer system having a lot consolidation manager (LCM) module for determining a list of potential lots for consolidation, the LCM module comprises a database and an input for receiving a triggering event, wherein the triggering event comprises a reduction in the number of wafers in a first lot at any stage of processing;
- and
- determining a list of potential lots of wafers for consolidation by the LCM module upon receiving the triggering event relating to the first lot at the input, wherein the determining comprises,
- providing a set of consolidation rules within the database of the LCM module,
- retrieving the set of consolidation rules upon receiving the event occurrence relating to the first lot from the input,
- initiating and performing a consolidation analysis by the LCM module to determine the list of potential lots for consolidation with the first lot based on the consolidation rules, wherein the consolidation analysis further determines a selected consolidation step for consolidation which can be at any stage of processing, and the first lot and the one or more lots from the list of potential lots continue processing until reaching the selected consolidation step to form a single consolidated lot;
- and
- physically merging the wafers of the first lot with one or more lots from the list of potential lots for consolidation into a same carrier at the selected consolidation step based on the determined list for subsequent processing of the wafers.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.